Location based assisting apparatuses, methods and computer readable mediums

ABSTRACT

An apparatus includes at least one processor and a transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to execute computer readable instructions to: acquire first location information representing locations of a plurality of user terminals, second location information representing a location of at least one vehicle, and third location information representing a location of a destination of the plurality of user terminals; and determine a route from the location of the at least one vehicle to the location of the destination based on the first location information, the second location information and the third location information, wherein the route includes the location of each of the plurality of user terminals. The transceiver is configured to transmit the route to the plurality of user terminals.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/837,408, filed Aug. 27, 2015, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-033144, filed on Feb. 23,2015, in the Japanese Patent Office, the entire contents of each ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Field

One or more example embodiments relate to location based assistingapparatuses, methods and/or computer readable mediums.

Description of Related Art

In many cases, people utilize pay vehicles such as taxies and limousineas a mode of transportation. Transportation using pay vehicles is veryconvenient because it can provide service according to the needs of eachuser. However, fares of pay vehicles are higher than that of publictransportation such as trains and buses.

If a pay vehicle such as a taxi or a limousine hire is shared by morethan one user (sometimes referred to as vehicle sharing), the fare peruser can be reduced. Particularly, if a plurality of users travel to thesame destination, there is relatively high demand for sharing the payvehicle.

In one related art method for sharing pay vehicles, a vehicle dispatchcenter recognizes a location where a user desires to obtain on a vehicleand a destination of each of a plurality of users, judges whether or nota vehicle can be shared by extracting users whose locations where theydesire to get on the vehicle and whose destinations are the same or whoare located within a threshold range, and extracts and dispatches a payvehicle optimal for sharing only when it is judged that the vehicle canbe shared.

However, in this example, if there is no other user whose location wherehe desires to get in a vehicle and whose destination are the same asthose of the user, it is impossible to share a pay vehicle. Further, forexample, when a user and a friend of the user whose location where hedesires to get in a vehicle is different from that of the user desire toshare a pay vehicle to travel to the same destination, the user himselfneeds to determine a route to share the pay vehicle. However, becauseeach user does not know who is located closest to a pay vehicle, it isdifficult to select a pay vehicle and an optimal route while reflectingrequests of the users most when the users travel while sharing the payvehicle.

SUMMARY

One or more example embodiments relate to apparatuses, methods and/orcomputer readable mediums capable of assisting a plurality of users toshare a pay vehicle such as a taxi.

At least some example embodiments provide vehicle sharing assistingapparatuses capable of assisting a plurality of users to share avehicle, such as a pay vehicle, and which provides a vehicle suitable tobe shared and a route from the vehicle to a destination. Exampleembodiments also provide methods and non-transitory computer readablemediums storing computer programs for assisting vehicle sharing.

At least one example embodiment provides a vehicle sharing assistingapparatus including: a location information acquiring unit configured toacquire a plurality of pieces of first location information representinglocations of a plurality of user terminals, second location informationrepresenting a location of at least one vehicle, and third locationinformation representing a location of a destination of the plurality ofuser terminals; a route acquiring unit configured to acquire a route forreaching the third location information from the second locationinformation by way of the plurality of pieces of first locationinformation based on the first location information, the second locationinformation and the third location information; and a transmitting unitconfigured to transmit the route acquired by the route acquiring unit tothe plurality of user terminals.

According to at least some example embodiments, the plurality of userterminals may build social relationships in a service subscribed to bythe plurality of user terminals.

The route acquiring unit may be configured to acquire a route firstpassing through a piece of the first location information, which isrelatively far from the third location information among the pluralityof pieces of first location information.

The route acquiring unit may be configured to acquire a route firstpassing through a piece of the first location information, which isrelatively close to the second location information among the pluralityof pieces of first location information.

The vehicle sharing assisting apparatus may further include a listdisplay unit configured to display a list of routes, and the locationinformation acquiring unit may acquire at least one piece of secondlocation information, the route acquiring unit may be configured toacquire a route for each of the at least one piece of second locationinformation, and the list display unit may be configured to display alist of at least one route acquired for each of the at least one pieceof second location information.

The list display unit may be configured to display a list of routeslisted based on travel distances of at least one route.

The transmitting unit may be configured to transmit informationindicating that a user terminal has gotten on or out of a vehicle to theplurality of user terminals.

When a distance between a vehicle and a user terminal becomes equal toor less than a threshold distance, the transmitting unit may transmitinformation indicating that the vehicle is approaching the user terminalto at least one user terminal among the plurality of user terminals.

The vehicle sharing assisting apparatus may further include a gettingon/out judging unit configured to judge whether a user terminal hasgotten on a vehicle when a distance between the first locationinformation and the second location information is equal to or less thana threshold distance.

The getting on/out judging unit may be configured to judge that the userterminal has gotten on the vehicle when the first location informationand the second location information move in the same or substantiallythe same direction.

The getting on/out judging unit may be configured to judge that the userterminal has gotten out of the vehicle when the distance between thefirst location information and the second location information becomesgreater than a threshold distance.

The getting on/out judging unit may be configured to judge that the userterminal has gotten out of the vehicle when the second locationinformation moves in a different direction from the first locationinformation.

Each user terminal and/or the vehicle may include a near fieldcommunication unit generating a signal when a distance between the userterminal and the vehicle becomes equal to or less than a thresholddistance, and the getting on/out judging unit may be configured to judgethat the user terminal has gotten on the vehicle or the user terminalhas gotten out of the vehicle based on the signal.

At least one other example embodiment provides a non-transitory computerreadable medium storing computer readable instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor, cause a computer device to perform amethod comprising: acquiring a plurality of pieces of first locationinformation representing locations of a plurality of user terminals,second location information representing a location of at least onevehicle, and third location information representing a location of adestination of the plurality of user terminals; acquiring a route forreaching the third location information from the second locationinformation by way of the plurality of pieces of first locationinformation based on the first location information, the second locationinformation and the third location information; and transmitting theroute acquired by the route acquiring unit to the plurality of userterminals.

One or more example embodiments provide vehicle sharing assistingapparatus capable of assisting a plurality of users to share a vehicle,such as a pay vehicle, and provide a vehicle suitable to be shared, anda route from the vehicle to a destination. Example embodiments alsoprovide non-transitory computer readable mediums and methods forassisting vehicle sharing.

At least one other example embodiment provides an apparatus comprising:at least one processor and a transceiver. The at least one processor isconfigured to execute computer readable instructions to: acquire firstlocation information, second location information, and third locationinformation, the first location information representing locations of aplurality of user terminals, the second location informationrepresenting a location of at least one vehicle, and the third locationinformation representing a location of a destination of the plurality ofuser terminals; and determine a route from the location of the at leastone vehicle to the location of the destination based on the firstlocation information, the second location information and the thirdlocation information, the route including the locations of the pluralityof user terminals. The transceiver is configured to transmit the routeto the plurality of user terminals.

At least one other example embodiment provides a non-transitory computerreadable medium storing computer readable instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor, cause a computer to perform a methodcomprising: acquiring first location information, second locationinformation, and third location information, the first locationinformation representing locations of a plurality of user terminals, thesecond location information representing a location of at least onevehicle, and the third location information representing a location of adestination of the plurality of user terminals; determining a route fromthe location of the at least one vehicle to the location of thedestination based on the first location information, the second locationinformation and the third location information, the route including thelocations of the plurality of user terminals; and transmitting the routeto the plurality of user terminals.

At least one other example embodiment provides a method comprising:acquiring first location information, second location information, andthird location information, the first location information representinglocations of a plurality of user terminals, the second locationinformation representing a location of at least one vehicle, and thethird location information representing a location of a destination ofthe plurality of user terminals; determining a route from the locationof the at least one vehicle to the location of the destination based onthe first location information, the second location information and thethird location information, the route including the locations of theplurality of user terminals; and transmitting the route to the pluralityof user terminals.

According to at least some example embodiments, the plurality of userterminals may be associated with one another through one or more socialrelationships created through a service subscribed to by the pluralityof user terminals.

The route may first pass through a location of a first of the pluralityof user terminals that is further from the location of the destinationrelative to others of the plurality of user terminals.

The route may first pass through a location of a first of the pluralityof user terminals that is closer to the location of the at least onevehicle relative to others of the plurality of user terminals.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute thecomputer readable instructions to: acquire at least one portion of thesecond location information; and determine a portion of the route foreach of the at least one portion of the second location information. Theapparatus may further include a list display unit configured to displaya list of instructions for each determined portion of the route.

The list display unit may be further configured to display a list ofinstructions for the route based on a travel distance for the route.

The transceiver may be further configured to transmit informationindicating that a first of the plurality of user terminals has enteredor exited the at least one vehicle to at least a second of the pluralityof user terminals.

The transceiver may be further configured to transmit informationindicating that the at least one vehicle is approaching a first of theplurality of user terminals when a distance between the location of theat least one vehicle and a location of the first of the plurality ofuser terminals is less than or equal to a first threshold distance.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute thecomputer readable instructions to determine that the first of theplurality of user terminals has entered the at least one vehicle when adistance between the location of the first of the plurality of userterminals and the location of the at least one vehicle is less than orequal to a second threshold distance.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute thecomputer readable instructions to determine that the first of theplurality of user terminals has entered the at least one vehicle whenthe location of the first of the plurality of user terminals and thelocation of the at least one vehicle move in the same direction.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute thecomputer readable instructions to determine that the first of theplurality of user terminals has exited the vehicle when the distancebetween the location of the first of the plurality of user terminals andthe location of the at least one vehicle exceeds the second thresholddistance.

The at least one processor may be further configured to execute thecomputer readable instructions to determine that the first of theplurality of user terminals has exited the at least one vehicle when thelocation of the at least one vehicle and the location of the first ofthe plurality of user terminals indicates that the at least one vehicleis moving in a different direction relative to the first of theplurality of user terminals.

At least one of the first of the plurality of user terminals and the atleast one vehicle may include a near field communication transceiver,the near field communication transceiver being configured to generate asignal when a distance between the first of the plurality of userterminals and the at least one vehicle is less than or equal to thesecond threshold distance. The at least one processor may be furtherconfigured to execute the computer readable instructions to determinethat the first of the plurality of user terminals has entered or exitedthe at least one vehicle based on the signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a vehicle sharingassisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of the vehiclesharing assisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware structure of anassisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to an example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of acommunication terminal used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to an example embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of avehicle used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of theassisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to an example embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of the vehiclesharing assisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating one example of an interface displayedat a user terminal when a program of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus is activated in the operation flow of the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating one example of the interface displayedat the user terminal when the program of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus is activated in the operation flow of the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating one example of an interface for userregistration in the operation flow of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating one example of an interface allowinginput of a destination in the operation flow of the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating one example of an interface forconfirming approval for a user terminal location information request inthe operation flow of the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus accordingto an example embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen display after anarrangement order is settled;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen display while avehicle is headed to pick up a user in the operation flow of the vehiclesharing assisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen display when thevehicle arrives at a location of the user terminal in the operation flowof the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a route acquiring methodof a route acquiring unit of the assisting server used in the vehiclesharing assisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a route acquiring methodof a route acquiring unit of an assisting server used in a vehiclesharing assisting apparatus according to another example embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration ofthe assisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to an example embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating one example of the route acquiringmethod of the route acquiring unit of the assisting server used in thevehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating one example of a list displayed by alist display unit of the assisting server used in the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 21 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration ofthe assisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to an example embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a getting on/out judgingmethod of a getting on/out judging unit of the assisting server used inthe vehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating one example of a getting-on judgingmethod of a getting on/out judging unit of an assisting server used in avehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to another exampleembodiment;

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating one example of a getting-out judgingmethod of a getting on/out judging unit of the assisting server used inthe vehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating one example of a getting on/outjudging method of the getting on/out judging unit of the assistingserver used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to anexample embodiment; and

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an example of the getting on/outjudging method of the getting on/out judging unit of the assistingserver used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to anexample embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, the exampleembodiments may have different forms and should not be construed asbeing limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, someexample embodiments are described below, by referring to the figures, toexplain aspects of the present description. As used herein, the term“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. Expressions such as “at least one of,” whenpreceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and donot modify the individual elements of the list.

Example embodiments will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings. Example embodiments, however, may be embodied invarious different forms, and should not be construed as being limitedonly to the illustrated example embodiments. Rather, these embodimentsare provided as examples so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey example embodiments to those skilled inthe art. Accordingly, known processes, elements, and techniques are notdescribed with respect to some of the example embodiments. Unlessotherwise noted, like reference numerals denote like elements throughoutthe attached drawings and written description, and thus descriptionswill not be repeated. In the drawings, the sizes and relative sizes oflayers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

It will be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second”,“third”, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements,components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components,regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms.These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region,layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a firstelement, component, region, layer or section discussed below could betermed a second element, component, region, layer or section withoutdeparting from the teachings of this disclosure.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “under”,“above”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease ofdescription to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will beunderstood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompassdifferent orientations of the device in use or operation in addition tothe orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device inthe figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath”or “under” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” theother elements or features. Thus, the example terms “below” and “under”can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may beotherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and thespatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. Inaddition, it will also be understood that when a layer is referred to asbeing “between” two layers, it can be the only layer between the twolayers, or one or more intervening layers may also be present.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As usedherein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items. Also, the term “exemplary” is intended to refer to anexample or illustration.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing “on”, “connected to”, “coupled to”, or “adjacent to” anotherelement or layer, it can be directly on, connected, coupled, or adjacentto the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyon,” “directly connected to”, “directly coupled to”, or “immediatelyadjacent to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elementsor layers present.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art. It will be further understood that terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art and/or the present specification andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

Although corresponding plan views and/or perspective views of somecross-sectional view(s) may not be shown, the cross-sectional view(s) ofdevice structures illustrated herein provide support for a plurality ofdevice structures that extend along two different directions as would beillustrated in a plan view, and/or in three different directions aswould be illustrated in a perspective view. The two different directionsmay or may not be orthogonal to each other. The three differentdirections may include a third direction that may be orthogonal to thetwo different directions. The plurality of device structures may beintegrated in a same electronic device. For example, when a devicestructure is illustrated in a cross-sectional view, an electronic devicemay include a plurality of the device structures, as would beillustrated by a plan view of the electronic device. The plurality ofdevice structures may be arranged in an array and/or in atwo-dimensional pattern.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the example embodimentswithout departing from the spirit or scope of example embodimentsdescribed herein. Thus, it is intended that the example embodimentscover the modifications and variations of the example embodimentsprovided they come within the scope of the appended claims and theirequivalents.

Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. In this regard, the same orcorresponding elements will be denoted by the same reference numeralsand will not be redundantly described herein.

Example embodiments disclosed herein may include program code includingprogram instructions, software components, software modules, data files,data structures, and/or the like that are implemented by one or morephysical hardware devices. Examples of program code include both machinecode produced by a compiler and higher level program code that isexecuted using an interpreter. The hardware devices may include one ormore processors. The one or more processors are computer processingdevices configured to carry out the program code by performingarithmetical, logical, and input/output operations. Once the programcode is loaded into the one or more processors, the one or moreprocessors may be programmed to perform the program code, therebytransforming the one or more processors into special purposeprocessor(s).

Alternatively, or in addition to the processors discussed above, thehardware devices may include one or more Central Processing Units(CPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs),application-specific-integrated-circuits (ASICs), SoCs, fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), or the like. In at least some cases,the one or more CPUs, SoCs, DSPs, ASICs and FPGAs, may generally bereferred to as processing circuits (or circuitry) and/ormicroprocessors.

The hardware devices may also include one or more storage devices. Theone or more storage devices may be tangible or non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media, such as random access memory (RAM),read only memory (ROM), a permanent mass storage device (such as a diskdrive), and/or any other like data storage mechanism capable of storingand recording data. The one or more storage devices may be configured tostore program code for one or more operating systems and/or the programcode for implementing the example embodiments described herein. Theprogram code may also be loaded from a separate computer readablestorage medium into the one or more storage devices and/or the one ormore processors using a drive mechanism. Such separate computer readablestorage medium may include a USB flash drive, memory stick,Blu-ray/DVD/CD-ROM drive, memory card, and/or other like computerreadable storage medium (not shown). The program code may be loaded intothe one or more storage devices and/or the one or more processors from aremote data storage device via a network interface, rather than via acomputer readable storage medium. Additionally, the program code may beloaded into the one or more storage devices and/or the one or moreprocessors from a remote computing system that is configured to transferand/or distribute the program code over a network. The remote computingsystem may transfer and/or distribute the program code via a wiredinterface, an air interface, and/or any other like tangible orintangible medium. The one or more processors, the one or more storagedevices, and/or the program code may be specially designed andconstructed for the purposes of the example embodiments, or they may beknown devices that are altered and/or modified for the purposes of theexample embodiments.

Example embodiments of vehicle sharing assisting apparatuses, methods,and non-transitory computer readable mediums, for assisting vehiclesharing will be described in more detail below with reference to thedrawings. Note that the example embodiments can be implemented in anumber of different aspects, and are not limited to the embodimentsdiscussed herein. It should be noted that, in the drawings referred toin the embodiments, the same reference numerals are assigned to the sameportions or portions having the same functions, and overlappedexplanation will be omitted.

In the following description, while a user utilizes a pay vehicle,because the user travels with a user terminal, the user is not clearlydifferentiated from the user terminal. For example, when a user utilizesa pay vehicle, because the user having a user terminal utilizes the payvehicle, there is a case where such situation is expressed as “the userterminal utilizes the pay vehicle”. This is synonymous with “the userhaving the user terminal utilizes the pay vehicle”. In a similar manner,a case where a user utilizes vehicle arrangement service is expressed asa user terminal utilizes the service.

While, in one or more example embodiments, a vehicle sharing farecalculating system in a vehicle such as a taxi and a limousine hire,whose fare fluctuates according to one or both of a travel distance anda travel period, is described as an example, the vehicle is not limitedto this. For example, one or more example embodiments may be applied totransportation such as ships, airplanes, helicopters, etc.

A vehicle sharing assisting apparatus, method and non-transitorycomputer readable medium, according to an example embodiment will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 16.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a vehicle sharingassisting apparatus according to an example embodiment. FIG. 2 is ablock diagram illustrating an overview of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus according to an example embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1and FIG. 2, a vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10 according to atleast this example embodiment includes an assisting server 110, anarrangement server 120 and a social networking service (SNS) server 130(hereinafter, simply referred to as an “SNS server 130”). As illustratedin FIG. 1, the assisting server 110 and the SNS server 130 communicatewith a plurality of user terminals 200, while the arrangement server 120communicates with a vehicle 300.

When a user terminal 200A of a user A, a user terminal 200B of a user Band a user terminal 200C of a user C are not particularly distinguished,the user terminal will be referred to as a user terminal 200. Further,the plurality of user terminals 200 may be any communication terminal,which can be connected to at least a first network 101 illustrated inFIG. 2, and the respective user terminals 200 may have functionsdifferent from each other. As the user terminal 200, a mobile phone, asmartphone, a tablet PC, a PDA, a personal computer, a PHS, a wearableterminal, or the like, may be employed.

The assisting server 110 searches a route and a vehicle 300 suitable forvehicle sharing or acquires the searched route and vehicle 300 fromfirst location information of the plurality of user terminals 200 of aplurality of users, second location information of the vehicle 300 andthird location information of a destination 400 for the plurality ofusers who desire to share the vehicle 300, and provides the route andthe vehicle 300 to the user terminals 200. The arrangement server 120,which is a server of an arrangement center that accepts an arrangementrequest and issues an arrangement instruction to the vehicle 300,manages the second location information of the vehicle 300. The SNSserver 130, which is a server providing SNS service to the userterminals 200, manages user terminal specific information of theplurality of user terminals 200 that subscribe to the SNS service, userpersonal information, or the like. While, according to at least thisexample embodiment, a configuration is described where the assistingserver 110 and the SNS server 130 are separately provided, theconfiguration is not limited to this example. For example, the assistingserver 110 may have a function of the SNS server 130. That is, forexample, functions of the assisting server 110 and functions of the SNSserver 130 may be implemented at a single server.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10acquires the first location information of the plurality of userterminals 200, the second location information of the vehicle 300, andthe third location information of the destination 400 of the pluralityof user terminals 200 and the vehicle 300, acquires a route for reachingthe destination 400 from the vehicle 300 by way of the plurality of userterminals 200 based on the respective location information of theplurality of user terminals 200, the vehicle 300 and the destination400, and transmits the acquired route to the plurality of user terminals200. Here, the locations of the user terminals 200 on theabove-described route are not limited to locations of the respectiveuser terminals 200 at the time when the route is acquired, but can beset at arbitrary points designated by the respective user terminals 200.

Here, the plurality of user terminals 200 and the vehicle 300 are ableto specify location. The user terminals 200 may specify locations using,for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System). In the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus 10, the first location information of the pluralityof user terminals 200 is transmitted to the assisting server 110, whilethe second location information of the vehicle 300 is transmitted to thearrangement server 120. Further, the third location information of thedestination 400, which is information input by the plurality of userterminals 200, is transmitted to the assisting server 110 from the userterminals 200 that has input the third location information.

Here, the respective users of the plurality of user terminals 200 may beusers referred to as “fellows”, “friends”, or the like, in the SNSservice managed by the SNS server 130, who build social relationshipswith each other and who can get in touch with each other. In otherwords, the plurality of user terminals 200 build social relationshipswith each other, which allow the users to get in touch with each otherby at least one of the users being registered to build socialrelationships in a given (or, alternatively, desired or predetermined)service subscribed to by the plurality of user terminals 200. While aconfiguration has been described here where the plurality of userterminals 200 build social relationships with each other, theconfiguration is not limited to this example. That is, for example, theplurality of user terminals 200 do not have to build socialrelationships as described above. In this case, in FIG. 1, the SNSserver 130 may be omitted.

The respective users of the plurality of user terminals 200 may be userswho build social relationships of “friends” with each other in the SNSservice managed by the SNS server 130. In other words, for example, theplurality of user terminals 200 build social relationships approved byeach other in a given (or, alternatively, desired or predetermined)service subscribed to by the plurality of user terminals 200. The socialrelationships approved by each other not only indicate that the usersrecognize each other, but also indicate, for example, socialrelationships built by one user transmitting a request for buildingsocial relationships of friends to the other user and the other userapproving the request. While a configuration has been described herewhere the plurality of user terminals 200 build social relationshipsapproved by each other, the configuration is not limited to thisexample. That is, for example, the plurality of user terminals 200 maynot build the social relationships as described above. In this case, inFIG. 1, the SNS server 130 may be omitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the assisting server 110, the arrangementserver 120, the SNS server 130 and the plurality of user terminals 200are connected to each other via the first network 101. The arrangementserver 120 and the vehicle 300 are connected to each other via a secondnetwork 102. The assisting server 110, the arrangement server 120 andthe SNS server 130 have respective databases (DBs) 115, 125 and 135. Asthe first network 101, a typical Internet Protocol (IP) network can beapplied, however, example embodiments are not limited to this example.As the second network 102, radio communication for taxies or a localnetwork can be applied, however, example embodiments are not limited tothis example.

Although FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration where the arrangement server120 and the vehicle 300 are connected via the second network 102, theconfiguration is not limited to this example. For example, the vehicle300 may be connected to the arrangement server 120 via the first network101. Further, although FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration where theassisting server 110, the arrangement server 120 and the SNS server 130are directly connected to the respective databases 115, 125 and 135, theconfiguration is not limited to this example. Rather, for example, thedatabases 115, 125 and 135 may be connected to the first network 101.That is, for example, it is possible to utilize cloud computing in whichdata is stored via a network, in place of the databases 115, 125 and135.

In the database 115 connected to the assisting server 110, equipmentspecific information of the respective user terminals 200, personalinformation (such as name, a phone number, credit card information,email address, address, age and sex) of users of the user terminals,user IDs (Identifiers) in the service, evaluation information of theusers of the user terminals 200 and the vehicle 300, road mapinformation, traffic congestion information, or the like, are stored.Here, the above-described equipment specific information of the userterminals 200 and the personal information of the users are stored inassociation with each other.

In the database 125 connected to the arrangement server 120, a type ofvehicle, a vehicle number, driver information (e.g., name, a mobilephone number, age, sex, etc.), an actual state (e.g., vacant, not inservice, reserved and in service) of the vehicle 300, the secondlocation information of the vehicle 300, or the like, are stored.

In the database 135 connected to the SNS server 130, user IDs of theusers who utilize the SNS service provided by the SNS server 130,equipment specific information of the user terminals of the users, alist of other users (a list of friends) who build social relationshipswith the users, or the like, are stored. Further, when the SNS server130 has a payment system in the SNS service, information registered inthe payment system such as credit card information may be further storedin the database 135.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware structure of theassisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to example embodiment. According to FIG. 3, the assistingserver 110 includes a control unit 111, a hard disk 112 and acommunication unit 113.

The control unit 111 includes a central processing unit (CPU) and astorage device such as a register and a memory. The control unit 111executes computer readable instructions and/or programs stored in thememory using the CPU to perform arithmetic processing according toinstruction signals from the user terminals 200.

The hard disk 112, which is a storage device that can store a largevolume of data, stores computer readable instructions, programs or thelike, necessary for the arithmetic processing, and temporarily storesinformation transmitted from the user terminals 200.

The communication unit 113 controls data transmission and receptionamong the arrangement server 120, the SNS server 130 and the userterminals 200 via the first network 101. The communication unit 113 mayinclude one or more interfaces, antennas, and corresponding circuitry,for transmitting/receiving data over a wired and/or wireless connection.The communication unit 113 may also be referred to as a transceiver.Here, a storage device of the control unit 111 reads out and storescomputer readable instructions and/or programs necessary for thearithmetic processing from the hard disk as necessary.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of acommunication terminal used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to an example embodiment. According to FIG. 4, a memory 205, acontrol unit 210, a near field communication unit 215 and acommunication module 220 are provided inside of a body of the userterminal 200. Further, at one side face of the user terminal 200, adisplay 230, an operation button 240, a speaker 250 and a microphone 260are provided. Here, the display 230 may have a touch sensor, in whichcase the operation button 240 does not have to be provided. Further,when the user terminal 200 does not have a call function, it is notnecessary to provide the speaker 250 and the microphone 260.

The memory 205 stores data such as computer readable instructions and/orprograms for causing the user terminal 200 to execute a specificfunction, specific information of the user terminal 200 and personalinformation of the user of the user terminal 200.

The control unit 210 has an arithmetic device such as a CPU and astorage device such as a register. The control unit 210 executes thecomputer readable instructions and/or programs stored in the memory 205using the CPU and to implement various functions of the user terminal200 according to instruction signals input by the users.

The near field communication unit 215, which is a functional unitperforming near field communication by utilizing a high frequency radiowave from MHz to GHz, can perform communication within a range fromseveral meters to several tens of meters. The near field communicationis communication for receiving a radio wave emitted from a radio sourceand transmitting various information such as specific information ofcommunication equipment and a distance between the radio source and thecommunication equipment. Near field communication includes, for example,RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) and BLE (BlueTooth Low Energy). Here,the near field communication unit 215 has an antenna for receiving aradio wave emitted from the radio source in the above-described nearfield communication and a logic circuit for analyzing the received radiowave. Further, the near field communication unit 215 may have a logiccircuit for modulating the radio wave emitted from the radio source totransmit the specific information of the user terminal 200. The nearfield communication unit 215 may also be referred to as a near fieldtransceiver.

The communication module 220 includes an antenna and a high frequencycircuit for wirelessly transmitting and receiving a signal, ademodulation circuit, or the like. Further, the communication module 220is controlled by the control unit 210, connected to the network, andaccesses the assisting server 110. The communication module 220 may alsobe referred to as a transceiver.

As the display 230, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, orthe like, can be employed. Further, as the touch sensor, a resistivefilm type sensor, a capacitance type sensor, an optical sensor, or thelike, can be employed. The user manipulates the user terminal 200according to display of a display to implement various functions.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of thevehicle used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to anexample embodiment. According to FIG. 5, the vehicle 300 includes a nearfield communication unit 320 inside a vehicle body 310. The near fieldcommunication unit 320 includes a radio source, which emits a radio waveto be used for near field communication. Further, the near fieldcommunication unit 320 may have a receiving unit, which receives a radiowave modulated by the near field communication unit 215 of the userterminal 200 and an analyzing unit, which analyzes specific informationof the user terminal 200 from the modulated radio wave. The near fieldcommunication unit 320 may also be referred to as a near fieldtransceiver.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of theassisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to an example embodiment. In FIG. 6, each functional block ofthe assisting server 110 in FIG. 2 will be explained in more detail.According to FIG. 6, the assisting server 110 has a location informationrequesting unit 301, a location information acquiring unit 302, a routeacquiring unit 303, a transmitting unit (or transmitter) 304 and anarrangement managing unit 305.

When the user terminal 200 transmits a vehicle sharing request signal inthe vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10, the location informationrequesting unit 301 receives the request signal and transmits a locationinformation request signal for requesting first location information ofthe user terminal 200 to the user terminal 200.

The location information acquiring unit 302 acquires a plurality ofpieces of first location information representing locations of aplurality of user terminals 200, which approve the location informationrequest signal transmitted by the location information requesting unit301, second location information representing a location of the vehicle300 and third location information representing a location of thedestination 400 of the plurality of user terminals 200 and the vehicle300.

The route acquiring unit 303 selects a vehicle 300 suitable to be sharedby the plurality of user terminals 200 based on the first locationinformation (user terminals), the second location information (vehicle)and the third location information (destination) acquired by thelocation information acquiring unit 302, and acquires a route forreaching the destination 400 by way of the plurality of user terminals200, which desire to share the selected vehicle 300. Here, the routeacquiring unit 303 may have a function of searching a route and thevehicle 300 suitable for vehicle sharing. Alternatively, the routeacquiring unit 303 may have a function of acquiring a route and thevehicle 300 suitable for vehicle sharing from routes and vehicles 300searched by another functional unit.

The transmitting unit 304 transmits the route acquired by the routeacquiring unit 303 to the plurality of user terminals 200, which desireto share a vehicle. The transmitting unit 304 can perform transmissionby the user terminal 200 performing display through a web view in whichprocessing of displaying the first location information (userterminals), the second location information (vehicle) and the thirdlocation information (destination) is performed. Here, in the web view,the first location information to the third location information may betransmitted so as to be displayed with icons which are different fromeach other. Further, an image specifying a user registered in the SNSservice may be used as an icon indicating the first location informationof the user terminal 200, which utilizes the SNS service provided by theSNS server 130 among the first location information of the userterminals 200 which desire to share a vehicle. Alternatively, thetransmitting unit 304 may transmit text information of the firstlocation information to the third location information to the userterminals 200. The transmitting unit 304 may include one or moreinterfaces, antennas, and corresponding circuitry, fortransmitting/receiving data over a wired and/or wireless connection.

The arrangement managing unit 305 requests arrangement of the vehicle300 to the arrangement server 120 when the user terminal 200 settles anarrangement order in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10. Here,the arrangement managing unit 305 may have a delay function so as torequest arrangement of the vehicle 300 to the arrangement server 120after a given (or, alternatively, desired or predetermined) period haselapsed since the user terminal 200 settled the arrangement order. Thearrangement managing unit 305 can accept cancellation of the arrangementorder from the user terminal 200 during the delay period. Thearrangement managing unit 305 requests arrangement of the vehicle 300 tothe arrangement server 120 if the arrangement order is not cancelledduring the delay period.

Further, the arrangement managing unit 305 notifies the user terminals200 of a situation of the first location information (user terminals),the second location information (vehicle) and the third locationinformation (destination) while the vehicle 300 is headed to pick up theuser. Further, the arrangement managing unit 305 may provide a manner inwhich to inquire (e.g., by calling or sending a message) about thevehicle 300 for the user terminals 200 while the vehicle 300 is headedto pick up the user. Further, the arrangement managing unit 305 may alsoprovide a mechanism to evaluate the vehicle 300 utilized by the userterminal 200 for the user terminals 200, which have utilized the vehicle300. Conversely, the arrangement managing unit 305 may provide a mannerin which to evaluate the user terminals 200 that utilized the vehicle300 for the vehicle 300, which has been utilized by the user terminals200. It should be noted that these evaluation results are stored in thedatabase 115. Here, it is also possible to change priority of thevehicle 300 utilized by the user terminals 200 and/or priority of theuser terminals 200 to which service of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus 10 are to be provided based on the evaluation results.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of the vehiclesharing assisting apparatus according to an example embodiment. In FIG.7, operation of each block of the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described in detail using a flowchart.

Referring to FIG. 7, computer readable instructions and/or programs forcausing the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10 to operate areactivated by the user terminal 200 (step S501). Here, examples of aninterface displayed at the user terminal when the program of the vehiclesharing assisting apparatus 10 is activated in step S501 are illustratedin FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. The interface 610 illustrated in FIG. 8 is asetting screen in the SNS service provided by the SNS server 130. Asillustrated in FIG. 8, the interface 610 has a vehicle icon 611, andwhen the vehicle icon 611 is selected, the program of the vehiclesharing assisting apparatus 10 is activated. Here, the interface 610 hasa plurality of tabs such as a Friends tab 612, a Chats tab 613, aTimeline tab 614 and a More tab 615. A tab for activating the program ofthe vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10 may be arranged on one of theplurality of tabs.

When the vehicle icon 611 of the interface 610 is selected, an interface620 in FIG. 9 is displayed. The interface 620 is a top screen of thevehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10. In the interface 620, when arequest button 621 is selected, the user terminal 200 can access theassisting server 110. Here, when the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus10 is utilized for the first time, an interface 630 for userregistration illustrated in FIG. 10 may be displayed. On the interface630, input fields for at least name and a phone number of the userterminal 200 are displayed. Here, on the interface 630, input fields forcredit card information, or the like, of the user may be displayed asnecessary.

Referring back to FIG. 7, a destination to which the user desires totravel is input at the user terminal 200 (step S502). Here, an exampleof an interface displayed at the user terminal when the destination isinput in step S502 is illustrated in FIG. 11. The interface 640illustrated in FIG. 11 is a map displayed through a web view function.The user selects the destination 400 on the map using the user terminal200. A destination pin 641, which serves as a landmark is displayed atthe selected destination 400. Further, destination address 642 isdisplayed above the destination pin 641. When the selected destination400 is set, a setting button 643 is selected, and thereby the thirdlocation information of the destination 400 is transmitted from the userterminal 200 to the assisting server 110.

In FIG. 11, time (15 minutes) expected to be required to reach thedestination 400 from a current location of the user terminal 200 isdisplayed at the destination pin 641. Further, a plurality of vehicles644 managed by the arrangement server 120 are displayed on the map.Here, a function of displaying the destination address 642, the timerequired to reach the destination 400 or the vehicles 644 can be omittedand may be provided as an optional function.

Referring again to FIG. 7, if the user terminal 200 takes an action torequest for vehicle sharing using the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus 10, a vehicle sharing request signal 551 is transmitted fromthe user terminal 200 to the assisting server 110 (step S503). Here, theorder of step S502 and step S503 may be changed.

When the assisting server 110 receives the vehicle sharing requestsignal 551 transmitted from the user terminal 200, the assisting server110 transmits a user terminal location information request signal 552 tothe user terminal 200, which transmits the vehicle sharing requestsignal 551 and other user terminals 200 which desire to share thevehicle (step S511).

When the user terminal location information request signal 552transmitted from the assisting server 110 is received by the pluralityof user terminals 200, it is confirmed whether to approve the userterminal location information request signal 552 at each of theplurality of user terminals 200 (step S504).

If the user terminal 200 approves the user terminal location informationrequest signal 552 in step S504 (step S504: Yes), then the firstlocation information 553 of the user terminal 200 that approves the userterminal location information request signal 552 is transmitted from theuser terminal 200 to the assisting server 110. Meanwhile, if the userterminal 200 does not approve the user terminal location informationrequest signal 552 (step S504: No), then the operation flow ends, andthe program is finished, or the screen shifts to the top screen.

Here, an example of an interface for confirming whether to approve theuser terminal location information request signal in step S504 isillustrated in FIG. 12. The interface 650 illustrated in FIG. 12 is amap displayed through a web view function. On the map illustrated inFIG. 12, a first location information pin 652 is displayed at the firstlocation information 651 of the user terminal 200 to which the userterminal location information request signal 552 is transmitted. When anapproval button 657 is selected at the user terminal 200, the firstlocation information 651 is transmitted from the user terminal 200 tothe assisting server 110.

Further, on the interface 650 illustrated in FIG. 12, a user informationconfirmation field 653 in which user information (such as, e.g., nameand a phone number) of the user terminal 200 is displayed, a userregistered credit card information field 654 in which credit cardinformation registered at the sharing assisting apparatus 10 isdisplayed, a coupon code field 655 in which information of a coupon theuser possesses is displayed, an arrangement center information field 656in which information to be notified, such as the pickup fare, from thearrangement center to the user terminal is displayed, and a pickupinformation field 658 in which expected pickup time, or the like, aredisplayed, are provided. Here, it is only necessary for the interface650 to have at least a function for confirming approval, whereas otherfunctions can be omitted and may be provided as optional functions.

Still referring to FIG. 7, when the assisting server 110 receives thefirst location information 553 of the user terminal 200 transmitted fromthe user terminal 200, the assisting server 110 transmits a vehiclelocation information request signal 554 to the arrangement server 120(step S512). Here, the third location information of the destination 400may be transmitted along with the vehicle location information requestsignal 554 in step S512.

When the arrangement server 120 receives the vehicle locationinformation request signal 554 transmitted from the assisting server110, the arrangement server 120 transmits a vehicle location informationrequest signal 555 to the vehicle 300 managed by the arrangement server120 via the second network 102 of the arrangement server (step S521).Here, the vehicle 300 to which the vehicle location information requestsignal 555 is to be transmitted may be selected based on the thirdlocation information of the destination 400 in step S521. Morespecifically, the vehicle location information request signal 555 may betransmitted only to vehicles 300 located in an area within a threshold(or, alternatively, given, desired or predetermined) range centeringaround the third location information of the destination 400.

When each vehicle 300 receives the vehicle location information requestsignal 555 transmitted from the arrangement server 120, each vehicle 300returns the second location information 556 of the vehicle 300 to thearrangement server 120 (step S531). Here, information including anactual state (such as, e.g., vacant, not in service, reserved, inservice, etc.) of the vehicle 300 may be returned along with the secondlocation information 556.

When the arrangement server 120 receives the second location information556 returned from each vehicle 300, the arrangement server 120 transmitsthe second location information 557 to the assisting server 110 (stepS522). Here, the vehicle 300 that transmits the second locationinformation 557 may be selected based on the third location informationof the destination 400 in step S522. More specifically, among the secondlocation information 556 returned from each vehicle 300, only the secondlocation information 557 included in a threshold range centered aroundthe third location information of the destination 400 may be transmittedfrom the arrangement server 120 to the assisting server 110.

When the assisting server 110 receives the second location information557 transmitted from the arrangement server 120, the assisting server110 acquires a route for reaching the third location information fromthe second location information by way of the plurality of pieces of thefirst location information based on the first location information ofthe user terminals 200, the second location information of the vehicle300 and the third location information of the destination (step S513).Here, locations on the route acquired in step S513 are not limited tothe locations of the respective user terminals 200 at the time when theroute is acquired, but rather arbitrary locations designated by therespective user terminals 200 may be set.

Still referring to FIG. 7, subsequently, the assisting server 110transmits the route and vehicle information 558 acquired in step S513 tothe user terminal 200 (step S514). Here, one or a plurality of pieces ofroute and vehicle information 558 may be transmitted to the userterminal.

When the user terminal 200 receives the route and vehicle information558 transmitted from the assisting server 110, a route for reaching thedestination 400 and detailed information of candidate vehicles to beutilized are displayed as arrangement information at the user terminal200 (step S505).

After the route and vehicle information 558 is displayed at the userterminal 200, it is confirmed whether to settle an arrangement orderwith the displayed route and vehicle (step S506). If the user terminal200 settles the arrangement order with the displayed route and vehiclein step S506 (step S506: Yes), then arrangement order settlementinformation 559 is transmitted from the user terminal 200 to theassisting server 110. Meanwhile, if the user terminal 200 does notsettle the arrangement order (step S506: No), then the operation flowends, and the program is finished, or the screen shifts to the topscreen.

Here, settlement of the arrangement order may be confirmed with all ofthe plurality of users who desire to share the vehicle or with at leastone user among the plurality of users who desire to share the vehicle.For example, settlement of the arrangement order may be confirmed withonly the user terminal 200, which transmits the vehicle sharing requestsignal 551 in step S503.

When the assisting server 110 receives the arrangement order settlementinformation 559 transmitted from the user terminal 200, the assistingserver 110 transmits an arrangement request signal 560 to thearrangement server 120 (step S515). Here, the arrangement request signal560 in step S515 may be transmitted to the arrangement server 120 aftera given (or, alternatively, desired or predetermined) period (referredto herein as a delay period) has elapsed since the arrangement order wassettled in step S506. Further, during the above-described delay period,the assisting server 110 may provide an interface 660 for acceptingcancellation of the arrangement order as illustrated in, for example,FIG. 13 at the user terminal 200.

When the arrangement server 120 receives the arrangement request signal560, a pickup instruction signal 561 is transmitted to the vehicle 300selected through route acquisition in step S513 (step S523). If thevehicle 300 that receives the pickup instruction signal 561 is availablefor picking up the user, then the vehicle 300 returns an approval signal562 to the arrangement server 120 (step S532).

When the arrangement server 120 receives the approval signal 562returned from the above-described vehicle 300, the arrangement server120 transmits an approval notification 563 to the assisting server 110(step S524). When the assisting server 110 receives the approvalnotification 563, the assisting server 110 transmits an arrangementstate notification 564 to the user terminal 200 (step S516). Thearrangement state notification 564 includes vehicle information (suchas, e.g., a type of vehicle, a vehicle number, driver information and anactual state) of the vehicle headed to pick up the user, and informationsuch as the current location of the vehicle 300. Further, thearrangement state notification 564 may further include time expected toarrive at the location of the user terminal 200 that will get on thevehicle 300 next, time expected to arrive at the location of thedestination 400, traffic congestion information, and the like.

The assisting server 110 provides an interface 670, as illustrated in,for example, FIG. 14, for accepting an inquiry about the vehicle 300headed to pick up the user for the user terminal 200, which receives thearrangement state notification 564 transmitted in step S516 (step S507).It is also possible to allow the user to call a driver of the vehicle300 by utilizing the interface 670 illustrated in FIG. 14 when the userdesires to inquire about the vehicle 300 headed to pick up the user(step S541). When the vehicle 300 headed to pick up the user arrives atthe location of the user terminal 200 which is going to get on thevehicle 300, as illustrated in FIG. 15, the vehicle 300 provides aninterface 680 for notifying the user that the vehicle 300 has arrived atthe location (step S508).

Here, when the user who is going to get on the vehicle cannot find thevehicle 300 (taxi), an inquiry button 681 for connecting the userterminal 200 and a mobile phone of the driver of the vehicle 300 so thatthe user can call the driver may be provided on the interface 680 inFIG. 15. The user terminal 200 can automatically call the mobile phoneof the driver of the vehicle 300 by pressing the inquiry button 681.Alternatively, it is also possible to allow the mobile phone of thedriver of the vehicle 300 to automatically call the user terminal 200 bythe inquiry button 681 being pressed. Further, the interface 680 mayinclude expected time 682 of arrival at the destination 400, aconfirmation number 683 indicating that the user terminal 200 is aterminal which places the arrangement order, and driver evaluation 684.

As described above, the vehicle 300 can reach the destination 400 by wayof the plurality of user terminals 200 which desire to share thevehicle.

While FIG. 7 illustrates an operation flow in which the destination isinput in step S502 before vehicle sharing is requested in step S503, theoperation flow is not limited to this example. For example, input of thedestination in step S502 may be performed after it is confirmed whetherto approve the user terminal location information request signal 552 instep S504. That is, for example, input of the destination in step S502may be performed at any point from when the program is activated in stepS501 until when the vehicle location information is requested in stepS512.

Further, while FIG. 7 illustrates the operation flow in which thearrangement server 120 requests the vehicle location information to thevehicle 300 in step S521 after receiving the vehicle locationinformation request in step S512, the operation flow is not limited tothis example. For example, the arrangement server 120 can regularlyacquire the third location information of the vehicle 300 at given (or,alternatively, desired or predetermined) time intervals and store thethird location information in the database 125. Further, in response tothe vehicle location information request in step S512, the arrangementserver 120 may transmit the third location information stored in thedatabase 125 to the assisting server 110. That is, for example, in theoperation flow in FIG. 7, steps S521 and S531 may be omitted, andtransmission of the vehicle location information in step S522 may beperformed immediately after the vehicle location information isrequested in step S512.

An example embodiment of a route acquiring method of the route acquiringunit 303 of the assisting server 110 illustrated in FIG. 6 will bedescribed in more detail with regard to FIG. 16. The route acquiringunit 303 in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10 according to atleast this example embodiment acquires a route which first passesthrough the first location information (user terminal 200A) that isrelatively far from the third location information (destination 400)among the plurality of pieces of first location information (userterminals 200A, 200B and 200C).

The route acquiring unit 303 first calculates a distance Da between theuser terminal 200A and the destination 400, a distance Db between theuser terminal 200B and the destination 400 and a distance Dc between theuser terminal 200C and the destination 400 in route acquisition in stepS513 in FIG. 7, and designates a user terminal for which the distance isrelatively long (e.g., relatively far from the destination 400) amongthe distances Da, Db and Dc as a user terminal which first gets on thevehicle. For example, in the example of FIG. 16, as indicated with theroute expressed with a solid line, the route acquiring unit 303 providesa route on which the user terminal 200A, which is the farthest from thedestination 400, gets on the vehicle first.

However, the route provided by the route acquiring unit 303 is notlimited to the route on which the user terminal 200, which is thefarthest from the destination 400, gets on the vehicle first, but may bethe route on which the user terminal 200 which is relatively far fromthe destination 400 among the plurality of user terminals 200A, 200B and200C gets on the vehicle first. Further, the order of the plurality ofuser terminals 200A, 200B and 200C to get on the vehicle may bearbitrarily determined by each of the user terminals.

Here, the distances Da, Db and Dc are distances on the road map. Forexample, the distance Da is a distance of a route on the road map fromthe user terminal 200A to the destination 400. However, the distancesDa, Db and Dc are not limited to the distances on the road map, and maybe linear distances connecting the respective location information. Itshould be noted that the distance on the road map is not a lineardistance between two points, but a distance in the case where thevehicle travels based on the road map.

As described above, according to the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus10 according to at least this example embodiment, it is possible toprovide a vehicle sharing assisting apparatus which assists a pluralityof users to share a vehicle 300 when user terminals 200 which desire toshare a vehicle requests for sharing a vehicle, and which provides avehicle 300 suitable to be shared and a route from the vehicle 300 to adestination 400, and a non-transitory computer readable medium storingcomputer readable instructions and/or programs for assisting vehiclesharing.

Further, because the plurality of user terminals 200 which utilize thevehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10 build social relationshipsapproved by each other in a given (or, alternatively, desired orpredetermined) service subscribed to by the plurality of user terminals200, it is not necessary to newly input personal information to utilizethe vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10, and it is possible toutilize information of the given service. Further, because users withwhom the user shares a vehicle are acquaintances, the user can utilizethe vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10 relatively easily. Therefore,a threshold for utilization of the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus10 is lowered, so that it is possible to provide an advantage that moreusers can more easily utilize the apparatus. Further, because the routeacquiring unit 303 acquires a route which first passes through a userterminal 200, which is relatively far from the location information ofthe destination 400 among the location information of the plurality ofuser terminals 200, it is possible to reduce a travel distance of thevehicle 300 and acquire a route more efficiently for the plurality ofusers.

Another example embodiment will be described with regard to FIG. 17.FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating one example of a route acquiringmethod of a route acquiring unit of an assisting server used in avehicle sharing assisting apparatus according to another exampleembodiment. The vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 11 according to thisexample embodiment is similar to the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus10, except that in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 11, the routeacquiring unit 303 acquires a route which first passes through the firstlocation information which is relatively close to the second locationinformation (vehicle) among the plurality of pieces of first locationinformation (user terminals).

In the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 11, the route acquiring unit303 first calculates a distance Da between the user terminal 200A andthe vehicle 300, a distance Db between the user terminal 200B and thevehicle 300, and a distance Dc between the user terminal 200C and thevehicle 300, and designates a user terminal for which the distance isrelatively short (e.g., relatively close to the vehicle 300) among thedistances Da, Db and Dc as a user terminal which gets on the vehiclefirst. For example, in the example of FIG. 17, as indicated with a routeexpressed with a solid line, the route acquiring unit 303 provides aroute on which the user terminal 200B which is the closest to thevehicle 300 gets on the vehicle first.

However, the route provided by the route acquiring unit 303 is notlimited to a route on which the user terminal 200 which is the closestto the vehicle 300 gets on the vehicle first, and may be a route onwhich the user terminal 200 which is relatively close to the vehicle 300among the plurality of user terminals 200A, 200B and 200C gets on thevehicle first.

Here, the distances Da, Db and Dc are distances on the road map. Forexample, the distance Da is a distance of a route on the road map fromthe user terminal 200A to the destination 400. However, the distancesDa, Db and Dc are not limited to the distances on the road map, but maybe linear distances connecting the respective location information.

As described above, according to the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus11 according to at least this example embodiment, it is possible toselect the vehicle 300 to be utilized according to states of thevehicles 300 located around the respective user terminals which desireto share the vehicle.

Another example embodiment of a vehicle sharing assisting apparatus anda vehicle sharing assisting apparatus including computer readableinstructions and/or programs for assisting vehicle sharing will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 18 to FIG. 20. It should benoted that because the overview of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus, the hardware structure of the assisting server, the hardwarestructure of the user terminal and the hardware structure of the vehicleare the same or substantially the same as those of the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus 10 according to the above-described exampleembodiment, and the explanation thereof will be omitted here.

FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration ofthe assisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to another example embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 18, theassisting server 110 of the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 20 has alocation information requesting unit 301, a location informationacquiring unit 302, a route acquiring unit 303, a transmitting unit 304,an arrangement managing unit 305 and a list display unit 306. Here,because the location information requesting unit 301, the locationinformation acquiring unit 302, the route acquiring unit 303, thetransmitting unit 304 and the arrangement managing unit 305 are the sameor substantially the same as those of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus 10, the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Here, in the assisting server 110 of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus 20, the location information acquiring unit 302 acquires theplurality of pieces of second location information (location informationof vehicles), and the route acquiring unit 303 acquires a route for eachof the plurality of pieces of second location information acquired bythe location information acquiring unit 302. The list display unit 306displays a list of a plurality of routes acquired for the plurality ofpieces of second location information in a given (or, alternatively,desired or predetermined) order. Because basic functions of the locationinformation acquiring unit 302 and the route acquiring unit 303 are thesame as those of the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10, theexplanation thereof will be omitted.

An example embodiment of a route acquiring method of the route acquiringunit 303 of the assisting server 110 illustrated in FIG. 18 will bedescribed in more detail using FIG. 19. FIG. 19 is a diagramillustrating an example embodiment of the route acquiring method of theroute acquiring unit of the assisting server used in the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus. The route acquiring unit 303 in the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus 20 according to this example embodiment calculates adistance between each of the plurality of pieces of first locationinformation (e.g., user terminals 200A, 200B and 200C) and each of theplurality of pieces of second location information (e.g., vehicles 300A,300B and 300C), and acquires a route for each of the plurality of firstlocation information. In FIG. 19, a route on which the vehicle 300A,which is the closest to the user terminal 200A, is to be shared isacquired for the user terminal 200A, a route on which the vehicle 300B,which is the closest to the user terminal 200B, is to be shared isacquired for the user terminal 200B, and a route on which the vehicle300C, which is the closest to the user terminal 200C, is to be shared isacquired for the user terminal 200C.

While, in the explanation of FIG. 19, a method in which the routeacquiring unit 303 acquires a route for vehicle sharing by utilizingvehicles which are closest to the respective plurality of user terminalshas been described, the method is not limited to this example. Forexample, the route acquiring unit 303 may acquire routes for theplurality of vehicles located close to each of the plurality of userterminals. More specifically, the route acquiring unit 303 may acquire aplurality of routes, for example, a route 1 on which the vehicle 300A isto be shared, and a route 2 on which the vehicle 300B which is fartherfrom the user terminal 200A than the vehicle 300A is to be shared forthe user terminal 200A. Further, the route acquiring unit 303 maycalculate a travel distance of the acquired route, and expected time ofarrival calculated from the route and the traffic congestioninformation.

A list of the list display unit 306 of the assisting server 110illustrated in FIG. 18 will be described in detail using FIG. 20. FIG.20 is a diagram illustrating one example of the list displayed by thelist display unit of the assisting server used in the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus according to an example embodiment. As illustratedin FIG. 20, items of the list 600 include a vehicle 601, a user 602, adistance 603 to the user, a travel distance 604 and expected time ofarrival 605. In the list 600, an example where the list display unit 306displays a list in an ascending order of the distance to the user basedon the distances to the user is illustrated.

Here, the items of the list 600 are not limited to the items illustratedin FIG. 20 and can include other items. Further, the list display unit306 may display a list in an ascending order of the travel distancebased on the travel distance. Further, the list display unit 306 maydisplay a list in chronological order of the expected time of arrivalbased on the expected time of arrival. The user terminal 200 can selectand switch an item to which priority is to be given in the displayedlist.

As illustrated in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, a vehicle, which is the closestfrom any of the plurality of user terminals, is the vehicle 300B locatedclose to the user terminal 200B. Meanwhile, in the case of thepositional relation illustrated in FIG. 19, a route on which the vehicle300A is to be shared is a route with the shortest travel distancealthough the vehicle 300A is far from the user terminal 200A. Meanwhile,as illustrated in FIG. 20, if the expected time of arrival which iscalculated while reflecting the traffic congestion information is takeninto account, a route on which the vehicle 300C is to be shared is aroute with the earliest expected time of arrival.

As described above, according to the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus20, it is possible to provide equivalent advantages to those of thevehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10. Further, because the pluralityof routes are acquired and a list of the routes can be displayedaccording to requests from the user, it is possible to select a routewhich suits the needs of the user.

Another example embodiment of a vehicle sharing assisting apparatus anda vehicle sharing assisting apparatus including computer readableinstructions and/or programs for assisting vehicle sharing according toan example embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.21 to FIG. 24. It should be noted that because the overview of thevehicle sharing assisting apparatus, the hardware structure of theassisting server, the hardware structure of the user terminal, and thehardware structure of the vehicle are the same or substantially the sameas those of the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10, the explanationthereof will be omitted.

FIG. 21 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration ofthe assisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatusaccording to an example embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 21, theassisting server 110 of the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 30 has alocation information requesting unit 301, a location informationacquiring unit 302, a route acquiring unit 303, a transmitting unit 304,an arrangement managing unit 305 and a getting on/out judging unit 307.Here, because the location information requesting unit 301, the locationinformation acquiring unit 302, the route acquiring unit 303, thetransmitting unit 304, and the arrangement managing unit 305, are thesame or substantially the same as those of the vehicle sharing assistingapparatus 10, the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Here, functions of the getting on/out judging unit 307 will be describedin detail using FIG. 22. FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an exampleembodiment of the getting on/out judging method of the getting on/outjudging unit of the assisting server used in the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 22, the getting on/outjudging unit 307 judges that the user terminal has gotten on the vehiclewhen a distance between the first location information (user terminal)and the second location information (vehicle) is less than or equal to afirst distance D1. Meanwhile, the getting on/out judging unit 307 judgesthat the user has gotten out of the vehicle when the distance betweenthe first location information and the second location informationbecomes greater than the first distance D1.

Specifically, as in the case of judging getting-on 710 illustrated inFIG. 22, when the vehicle 300 enters within a radius of the firstdistance D1 from the user terminal 200, it is judged that the userterminal 200 has gotten on the vehicle 300. Further, as in the case ofjudging getting-out 720, when the vehicle 300 gets out of the radius ofthe first distance D1 from the user terminal 200, it is judged that theuser terminal 200 has gotten out of the vehicle 300.

Further, the transmitting unit 304 may transmit information that theuser terminal 200 has gotten on the vehicle 300 or the user terminal 200has gotten out of the vehicle 300 to the plurality of user terminals 200which desire to share the vehicle.

A function for further improving accuracy of judging getting on/out willbe described next. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating another exampleembodiment of the getting on/out judging method of the getting on/outjudging unit of the assisting server used in the vehicle sharingassisting apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 23, the getting on/outjudging unit 307 may judge that the user terminal has gotten on thevehicle when the distance between the first location information (userterminal) and the second location information (vehicle) is less than orequal to the first distance D1 and the first location information andthe second location information travel in the same or substantially thesame direction. Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 24, the getting on/outjudging unit 307 may judge that the user terminal has gotten out of thevehicle when the second location information travels in a differentdirection from the first location information.

As described above, according to the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus30, it is possible to provide equivalent advantages to those of thevehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10 and/or 20. Further, because it ispossible to obtain getting on/out information of other users who sharethe vehicle, it is possible to further improve user-friendliness.

Another example embodiment will be described with regard to FIG. 25 andFIG. 26. FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example embodiment of thegetting on/out judging method of the getting on/out judging unit of theassisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus. In thevehicle sharing assisting apparatus 31 according to the exampleembodiment shown in FIG. 25, the vehicle 300 has a near fieldcommunication unit 320 which generates a signal when the distancebetween the user terminal 200 and the vehicle 300 becomes less than orequal to a second distance D2. When the vehicle 300 has the near fieldcommunication unit 320, the near field communication unit 320 may beprovided at a POS terminal (Point-Of-Sale terminal) provided at thevehicle 300 or a communication terminal of the driver.

The near field communication unit 320 transmits an information signalspecific to the near field communication unit 320 to the user terminal200 when the distance between the user terminal 200 and the vehicle 300is less than or equal to the second distance D2. That is, for example,the user terminal 200 receives the information signal specific to thenear field communication unit 320 from the near field communication unit320 when the distance between the user terminal 200 and the vehicle 300becomes a relatively short distance less than or equal to the seconddistance D2. When the user terminal 200 receives the information signal,the user terminal 200 transmits receipt of the information signal to theassisting server 110. The getting on/out judging unit 307 of theassisting server 110 judges that the user terminal 200 has gotten on thevehicle 300 or the user terminal 200 has gotten out of the vehicle 300based on the information signal.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating another example embodiment of thegetting on/out judging method of the getting on/out judging unit of theassisting server used in the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus. In thevehicle sharing assisting apparatus 32 according to the exampleembodiment illustrated in FIG. 26, the user terminal 200 has a nearfield communication unit 215, which generates a signal when the distancebetween the user terminal 200 and the vehicle 300 is less than or equalto the second distance D2.

The near field communication unit 215 transmits an information signalspecific to the near field communication unit 215 to the vehicle 300when the distance between the user terminal 200 and the vehicle 300becomes less than or equal to the second distance D2. That is, forexample, when the distance between the user terminal 200 and the vehicle300 becomes a relatively short distance less than or equal to the seconddistance D2, the vehicle 300 receives the information signal specific tothe near field communication unit 215 from the near field communicationunit 215. When the vehicle 300 receives the information signal, thevehicle 300 transmits receipt of the information signal to thearrangement server 120. When the information signal is transmitted fromthe arrangement server 120 to the assisting server 110, the gettingon/out judging unit 307 of the assisting server 110 judges that the userterminal 200 has gotten on the vehicle 300 or the user terminal 200 hasgotten out of the vehicle 300 based on the information signal.

As described above, according to the vehicle sharing assistingapparatuses 31 and 32, it is possible to provide equivalent advantagesto those of the vehicle sharing assisting apparatus 10, 20 and/or 30.Further, because it is possible to obtain getting on/out information ofother users who share the vehicle, it is possible to further improveuser-friendliness.

It should be noted that example embodiments are not limited to thosedescribed herein, but can be modified as appropriate without departingfrom the scope of this disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processorconfigured to execute computer readable instructions to acquire each offirst location information, second location information, and thirdlocation information in response to a single request to share a vehicleamong a plurality of users, each of the plurality of users correspondingto a user terminal among a plurality of user terminals, the firstlocation information representing locations of the plurality of userterminals, the second location information representing a location ofthe vehicle, and the third location information representing a locationof a destination of the plurality of user terminals, and determine aroute from the location of the vehicle to the location of thedestination based on the first location information, the second locationinformation and the third location information, the route including thelocations of the plurality of user terminals; and a transceiverconfigured to transmit the route to the plurality of user terminals;wherein the single request to share a vehicle is from only a first useramong the plurality of users, and the single request to share a vehicleis received prior to transmission of the route to the plurality of userterminals.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pluralityof user terminals are associated with one another through one or moresocial relationships created through a service subscribed to by theplurality of user terminals.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the route first passes through a location of a first of theplurality of user terminals that is further from the location of thedestination relative to others of the plurality of user terminals. 4.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the route first passesthrough a location of a first of the plurality of user terminals that iscloser to the location of the vehicle relative to others of theplurality of user terminals.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 4,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to executecomputer readable instructions to acquire at least one portion of thesecond location information, and determine a portion of the route foreach of the at least one portion of the second location information; andthe apparatus further includes a list display unit configured to displaya list of instructions for each determined portion of the route.
 6. Theapparatus according to claim 5, wherein the list display unit is furtherconfigured to display a list of instructions for the route based on atravel distance for the route.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit informationindicating that a first of the plurality of user terminals has enteredor exited the vehicle to at least a second of the plurality of userterminals.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thetransceiver is further configured to transmit information indicatingthat the vehicle is approaching a first of the plurality of userterminals when a distance between the location of the vehicle and alocation of the first of the plurality of user terminals is less than orequal to a first threshold distance.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit informationindicating that the vehicle is approaching a first of the plurality ofuser terminals when a distance between the location of the vehicle and alocation of the first of the plurality of user terminals is less than orequal to a first threshold distance; and the at least one processor isfurther configured to execute the computer readable instructions todetermine that the first of the plurality of user terminals has enteredthe vehicle when a distance between the location of the first of theplurality of user terminals and the location of the vehicle is less thanor equal to a second threshold distance.
 10. The apparatus according toclaim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured toexecute the computer readable instructions to determine that the firstof the plurality of user terminals has entered the vehicle when thelocation of the first of the plurality of user terminals and thelocation of the vehicle move in the same direction.
 11. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to execute the computer readable instructions to determinethat the first of the plurality of user terminals has exited the vehiclewhen the distance between the location of the first of the plurality ofuser terminals and the location of the vehicle exceeds the secondthreshold distance.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein theat least one processor is further configured to execute the computerreadable instructions to determine that the first of the plurality ofuser terminals has exited the vehicle when the location of the vehicleand the location of the first of the plurality of user terminalsindicates that the vehicle is moving in a different direction relativeto the first of the plurality of user terminals.
 13. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein at least one of the first of the pluralityof user terminals and the vehicle includes a near field communicationtransceiver, the near field communication transceiver being configuredto generate a signal when a distance between the first of the pluralityof user terminals and the vehicle is less than or equal to the secondthreshold distance; and the at least one processor is further configuredto execute the computer readable instructions to determine that thefirst of the plurality of user terminals has entered or exited thevehicle based on the signal.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theplurality of users includes the first user and at least one second user;and the at least one processor is further configured to execute computerreadable instructions to acquire the first location information inresponse to the single request to share a vehicle and an authorizationresponse message from the at least one second user, the authorizationresponse message authorizing acquisition of a location of the userterminal corresponding to the at least one second user.
 15. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readableinstructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause acomputer to perform a method comprising: acquiring each of firstlocation information, second location information, and third locationinformation in response to a single request to share a vehicle among aplurality of users, each of the plurality of users corresponding to auser terminal among a plurality of user terminals, the first locationinformation representing locations of the plurality of user terminals,the second location information representing a location of the vehicle,and the third location information representing a location of adestination of the plurality of user terminals; determining a route fromthe location of the vehicle to the location of the destination based onthe first location information, the second location information and thethird location information, the route including the locations of theplurality of user terminals; and transmitting the route to the pluralityof user terminals; wherein the single request to share a vehicle is fromonly a first user among the plurality of users, and the single requestto share a vehicle is received prior to transmission of the route to theplurality of user terminals.
 16. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of users includes the firstuser and at least one second user; and the method further includesacquiring the first location information in response to the singlerequest to share a vehicle and an authorization response message fromthe at least one second user, the authorization response messageauthorizing acquisition of a location of the user terminal correspondingto the at least one second user.
 17. A method comprising: acquiring eachof first location information, second location information, and thirdlocation information in response to a single request to share a vehicleamong a plurality of users, each of the plurality of users correspondingto a user terminal among a plurality of user terminals, the firstlocation information representing locations of the plurality of userterminals, the second location information representing a location of avehicle, and the third location information representing a location of adestination of the plurality of user terminals; determining a route fromthe location of the vehicle to the location of the destination based onthe first location information, the second location information and thethird location information, the route including the locations of theplurality of user terminals; and transmitting the route to the pluralityof user terminals; wherein the single request to share a vehicle is fromonly a first user among the plurality of users, and the single requestto share a vehicle is received prior to transmission of the route to theplurality of user terminals.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein theplurality of users includes the first user and at least one second user;and the method further includes acquiring the first location informationin response to the single request to share a vehicle and anauthorization response message from the at least one second user, theauthorization response message authorizing acquisition of a location ofthe user terminal corresponding to the at least one second user.